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Should I ship a Detective Board Game?
Board Game + Detective
Of 29 developers who shipped a Detective Board Game in the last 2 years: 3 in 10 made under est. revenue: est. copies × today's US list price; gross, before Steam's cut, taxes and refunds. See method., the middle one made est. revenue: est. copies × today's US list price; gross, before Steam's cut, taxes and refunds. See method., 1 in 4 cleared est. revenue: est. copies × today's US list price; gross, before Steam's cut, taxes and refunds. See method., 1 in 20 cleared est. revenue: est. copies × today's US list price; gross, before Steam's cut, taxes and refunds. See method.. 31 more are announced.
Verdict: long shot, for a 3 / 10 build.
The middle developer here made $300, ×0.6 the market's $480 for a 3 / 10 build, but 1 in 20 cleared $15k, ×32 the market median. Revenue is up 65% on the market; 31 games are announced against 17 developers who shipped in the last year.
| Bottom 30% | $119 (exactly $119) |
|---|---|
| Median | $300 (exactly $300) |
| Top 25% | $3.2k (exactly $3,236) |
| Top 5% | $15k (exactly $15,274) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 29 |
| Released games | 65 |
| Announced | 31 |
| Effort | 3 / 10 |
| AI-buildability | High |
| Typical price | $4.99 |
momentum: how a niche's revenue percentiles and developer count moved between two equal, adjacent periods, divided by the market's own move. See method., 12 months: revenue up 65% on the market, supply 40% more developers than the period before.
Free games: 12%, excluded from money figures.
Can AI deliver it?
AI-buildability for this niche is high: the lowest rating among its tags.
- Board Game
- effort 2 / 10 · high · effort 2 sits in the high band
- Detective
- effort 3 / 10 · high · effort 3 sits in the high band
What it takes
- Effort
- 3 / 10 · small 2D action, light systems
- Systems
- Board Game; 4 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Investigation, PvP, Puzzle
- Price point
- $4.99 typical · top 25% priced $14.99 or above
- Art
- 4 in 10 of the top 25% ship with 2D, Colorful, Family Friendly
Why players buy here
The top 25% priced at $14.99 or above; the middle game at $4.99.
The top 10 games average 76% positive over 391 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $120. 9 in 10 of the 15 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 31 games are announced against 17 developers who shipped in the last year.
Adjacent niches
Board Game with a different setting or mood, ranked by verdict then median.
- + Party-Based RPGFair
- + Asynchronous MultiplayerFair
- + JRPGFair
- + Local Co-OpFair
- + Female ProtagonistFair
- + HistoricalFair
- + LGBTQ+Fair
- + SpaceFair
- + Alternate HistoryFair
- + MahjongFair
- + Party GameFair
- + DragonsFair
Comparable games
Clue/Cluedo: Classic Edition 2018 · $1.6M 
Clue/Cluedo 2023 · $220k 
你已经猜到结局了吗 2022 · $93k 
Rough Justice: '84 2023 · $40k 
Deadly Trick 2026 · EA · $38k | Capsule | Game | Released | Price | Reviews | Est. copies | Est. revenue | Developer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | Clue/Cluedo: Classic Edition | older | $16.99 | 3,096 88% | 93k | $1.6M (exactly $1,578,031) | Marmalade Game Studio Ltd |
| | Clue/Cluedo | older | $14.99 | 489 89% | 15k | $220k (exactly $219,903) | Marmalade Game Studio Ltd |
| | 你已经猜到结局了吗 | older | $7.99 | 388 92% | 12k | $93k (exactly $93,004) | 橘音 |
| | Rough Justice: '84 | older | $19.99 | 67 64% | 2.0k | $40k (exactly $40,180) | Gamma Minus |
| | Deadly Trick | · EA | $8.99 | 141 95% | 4.2k | $38k (exactly $38,028) | Finalblow Co. |
 | Trust No Bunny | older | $5.99 | 109 93% | 3.3k | $20k (exactly $19,587) | Friendly Pixel, Inc. |
 | Lateral Thinking Together | · EA | $5.99 | 85 43% | 2.6k | $15k (exactly $15,274) | PushForward |
 | Crime Reaper | older | $8.99 | 42 90% | 1.3k | $11k (exactly $11,327) | Potato Interactive |
 | Signal Maze | $14.99 | 24 95% | 720 | $11k (exactly $10,793) | theArkitect | |
 | Scotland Yard – Hunting Mister X | $14.99 | 21 23% | 630 | $9.4k (exactly $9,444) | BitBarons GmbH | |
 | 초동수사 - 증언/증거 추리게임 | $4.99 | 60 80% | 1.8k | $9.0k (exactly $8,982) | leeroom shin | |
 | Yesterday's News | $11.99 | 18 83% | 540 | $6.5k (exactly $6,475) | Rooibos Games | |
 | Detective 26 | $7.62 | 15 80% | 450 | $3.4k (exactly $3,429) | TestOneDev | |
 | Trailmarks | $8.99 | 12 91% | 360 | $3.2k (exactly $3,236) | Trailmarks HQ | |
 | Hexa's Gone | $9.99 | 5 100% | 150 | $1.5k (exactly $1,498) | DevloCore | |
 | 17 Steps | · EA | $3.99 | 10 100% | 300 | $1.2k (exactly $1,197) | SmilingMiles |
Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.
Five niches a week, one death, one deep dive.
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